Such a power breaker is disclosed, for example, in patent specification DE 199 53 560 C1. This document describes a power breaker whose interrupter unit is arranged within an encapsulating housing. When the interrupter unit of the power breaker effects a disconnection procedure, some of the quenching gas which may be produced is led away from the switching path there within a hollow contact tube. At the end of the hollow contact tube, which is remote from the switching path, the contact tube has outlet openings from which the quenching gas emerges. The quenching gas emerges into an area which is delimited by a flow-deflecting device. The flow-deflecting device there is essentially cylindrical and has outflow openings in its outer surface. These outflow openings make it possible for the quenching gas to emerge from the area which is delimited by the flow-deflecting device, and to flow out into the volume which surrounds the interrupter unit of the power breaker and is filled with insulating gas.
In order to deflect the quenching gas emerging from the outflow openings in a determined discharge direction, the outflow openings are provided with deflecting covers. These deflecting covers deflect the emerging quenching gas in an axial direction of the interrupter unit. This deflection is necessary in order to prevent the quenching gas from flowing directly into the encapsulating housing. In the event of the quenching gas flowing directly into the encapsulating housing, there would be a risk of the gas insulation being weakened.
It is technically complex in terms of design to provide the outflow openings with deflecting covers, since the deflecting covers are provided individually for each outflow opening and each deflecting cover needs to be fixed individually to the flow-deflecting device. Owing to the relatively complicated arrangement of outflow openings and deflecting covers in relation to one another, there is also no simple production method, for example a casting method, for an arrangement such as this.